Pediatricians group condemns U.S.’s failure to regulate chemicals

Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics entered the policy fray with a statement criticizing the way chemicals are regulated — or, more accurately, not regulated — in the United States. The Academy called for “an overhaul of the nation’s chemical management policy,” which, it says, “fails to protect children and pregnantwomen, who are most vulnerable to hazardous chemical exposures.”

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The medical group called for the U.S. to take Europe’s lead and base decisions to limit or ban substances on “reasonable levels of concern” rather than irrefutable evidence of harm.

The statement called the Toxic Substance Control Act “cumbersome,” and “ineffective in protecting children, pregnant women, and the general population from hazardous chemicals.” Indeed, since it was passed in 1976, the TSCA has been used to regulate just five chemicals or chemical classes. Most chemicals in use haven’t even been tested for basic safety.